Blagojevich, State Corruption Feature In Ruling
From the Associated Press
A U.S. appeals court took on the issue of Illinois corruption under now-imprisoned former Gov. Rod Blagojevich as it revived a lawsuit alleging that racetrack owners bribed the Democrat to get him to push through legislation that cost casinos $90 million.
In reinstating the case after a lower court had thrown it out, the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago agreed that four casinos could sue to recoup losses under the law that forced them to pay 3 percent of revenues to the financially ailing tracks.
Illinois' history of pay-to-play corruption, the appeals court said, looms over the dispute.
"This case requires us once again to decide whether some shenanigans in the Illinois General Assembly and governor's office crossed the line from the merely unseemly to the unlawful," the ruling from the three-judge panel says.
The answer, it said, isn't always clear-cut.
"Deals are the stuff of legislating," the 22-page ruling says. "Although (political) logrolling may appear unseemly some of the time, it is not, by itself, illegal."
Read more in our daily News Update...
From the Associated Press
A U.S. appeals court took on the issue of Illinois corruption under now-imprisoned former Gov. Rod Blagojevich as it revived a lawsuit alleging that racetrack owners bribed the Democrat to get him to push through legislation that cost casinos $90 million.
In reinstating the case after a lower court had thrown it out, the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago agreed that four casinos could sue to recoup losses under the law that forced them to pay 3 percent of revenues to the financially ailing tracks.
Illinois' history of pay-to-play corruption, the appeals court said, looms over the dispute.
"This case requires us once again to decide whether some shenanigans in the Illinois General Assembly and governor's office crossed the line from the merely unseemly to the unlawful," the ruling from the three-judge panel says.
The answer, it said, isn't always clear-cut.
"Deals are the stuff of legislating," the 22-page ruling says. "Although (political) logrolling may appear unseemly some of the time, it is not, by itself, illegal."
Read more in our daily News Update...